Belfast secures planning approval for £40m digital healthcare centre

Belfast City Council has granted planning approval for the Centre for Digital Healthcare Technology, a £40 million (€47 million) innovation hub led by Ulster University that aims to establish Northern Ireland as a leader in medical technology development and commercialisation. The facility will be located adjacent to the university's Belfast campus and is backed through the Belfast Region City Deal.

Healthcare Digital reported that the project will include a bespoke Open Innovation Centre and Community Living Lab, working in partnership with Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. The centre will establish dedicated Clinical Living Labs to create an ecosystem supporting innovation from research through to real-world clinical adoption.

Professor Paul Bartholomew, Vice-Chancellor of Ulster University, said the planning approval allows the university and its partners to progress a transformative project that will strengthen multidisciplinary research and deepen partnerships with the NHS and industry. He added that the centre will provide students and graduates with exceptional opportunities whilst establishing Belfast as a globally recognised centre of excellence for digital healthcare research and innovation.

The facility aims to provide end-to-end support for researchers developing next-generation medical technologies, from early-stage concept and prototyping through to clinical validation and commercialisation. The centre will combine expertise across engineering, data science and clinical practice, with specialist capabilities including artificial intelligence, surgical robotics, diagnostics, imaging, data analytics and simulations.

The UK Government is contributing £34 million (€40 million) towards the project as part of its wider £350 million (€410 million) investment in the Belfast Region City Deal.

Access the full planning details to see how the facility will support healthcare innovation commercialisation.